The Portland Trail Blazers stormed back from a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit to take down the Houston Rockets 111-105 at the Moda Center on Friday. This was the second time in three days that the Blazers had beaten the Rockets, and Ime Udoka went off on his players postgame for collapsing without Kevin Durant when asked what went wrong in the fourth quarter.
“You take a 37-year-old out of the game for 2 minutes, and you lose a 13-point lead,” Udoka said. “11-0 run. That’s what went wrong. Don’t play with any aggression, confidence. Mentally weak. And have a 15-point quarter, 1-17 from three, I think, with a bunch of wide-open looks.
“Making shots help, but you have to guard on one end,” Udoka added. “You have to play with some aggression on one end. Drive it physically, take care of the ball, and not turn it over. So, all of the above. But the fact that we have to rely on a 37-year-old for 40+ minutes is a problem.”
The Rockets looked to be in control when they led 90-77 entering the fourth quarter. With Durant having played the entire third quarter, Udoka chose to give his superstar a breather at the start of the fourth. He then watched on in horror as the Trail Blazers went on an 11-0 run in the first three minutes of the period.
Udoka had no choice but to put Durant back in the game. The damage had been done by then, though.
Durant would end up scoring seven points in the fourth quarter, going 3-7 from the field and 1-3 from beyond the arc. That’s solid production, but the 15-time All-Star got next to no help from his teammates. The rest of the Rockets went 3-21 from the field and 0-14 from beyond the arc in the quarter.
Durant’s frustrations got the better of him as the game was slipping away from the Rockets. At one point, he smashed a bottle on the ground during a timeout.
Kevin Durant was pissed after that Jabari missed 3 three that hit the backboard and Amen Thompson not slowing it down when it was a 2 pt game which costed them the game smh.
Young dudes gotta be better a 37 year old shouldn’t have to carry this much of a damn load‼️#AllFire pic.twitter.com/imSktL18bh
— 𝘚𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘢☆ (@Stunna999_) January 10, 2026
Durant finished with 30 points (11-20 FG), 12 rebounds, four assists, and two blocks against the Trail Blazers. He did his part, but it wasn’t enough.
Durant and the Rockets sorely missed Alperen Sengun here. This was the third straight game he has missed with a sprained right ankle, and they need him back soon.
The Rockets, of course, lost Fred VanVleet to a torn ACL before the start of the season. Take Durant or Sengun out of the equation as well, and you’re looking at an offense that is susceptible to a collapse.
The Rockets dropped to 22-13 with this latest loss and are sixth in the Western Conference. The only positive to come out of the night was Durant passing Wilt Chamberlain and becoming the seventh leading scorer in NBA history. He now has 31,435 points to his name.
We’ll see Durant in action next when the Rockets take on the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center on Sunday at 9 PM ET.
